Aneurin Bevan

Aneurin "Nye" Bevan (15 November 1897-6 July 1960) was the Minister of Health of the United Kingdom from 3 August 1945 to 17 January 1951, succeeding Henry Willink and preceding Hilary Marquand. He also served as a Labor Party MP for Ebbw Vale from 31 May 1929 to 6 July 1960, succeeding Evan Davies and preceding Michael Foot.

Biography
Aneurin Bevan was born in Tredegar, Monmouthshire, Wales on 15 November 1897, and he started work in a coal mine at hte age of 13. He was active in the South Wales Miners' Federation, and he was elected to Parliament as Labor Party MP for Ebbw Vale in 1929. Angered by Ramsay MacDonald's failure to deal with unemployment, he briefly considered supporting Oswald Mosley, but instead became an outspoken socialist critic of government policies. From 1929 to 1940, he was expelled for the party for advocating a popular front against fascism and remained vocal during the war as a critic of Labor's subordinate attitude to Winston Churchill. Under Clement Attlee, as Minister of Health from 1945 to 1951, he was responsible for a program of house-building and, most importantly, in 1948, for the creation of the National Health Service. In doing this, he tackled resistance from members of the medical profession by allowing private practice to continue. In 1951, he became Minister of Labor, but he resigned over Hugh Gaitskell's imposition of charges for adult false teeth and spectacles in order to help pay for Britain's contribution towards the Korean War. The informal Bevanite group opposed high defense spending and the party's concessions to capitalism, and he failed to defeat Gaitskell in the 1955 party leadership election. In 1956, he became Shadow Foreign Secretary after he criticized Anthony Eden's activities in the Suez Crisis, and he opposed those in the Bevanite group who demanded unilateral renunciation of the hydrogen bomb in 1957, dividing the left iof the party. He was a brilliant and inspirational speaker in debates and on the platform, and he died in office in 1960. Hsi wife Jennie Lee was also a Labor MP and minister.